Work
by NiennaAngel
Summary: SpencerxMax with mentioned BryanxKai. Max is crushing on Spencer. Will a little nudge from big brother Kai be enough to get them together?


Yay! Another SpencerxMax. I really do love this pairing. They're so adorable. There's also hints of BryanxKai. I hope you enjoy it and please review!

Dedicated to Sakura wo Miro who requested a oneshot of this pairing. I'm more than happy to oblige your request!

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Max stretched as he walked out into the morning sunshine. He waved to Kai who was drinking his coffee on the back porch. The phoenix smiled and chuckled softly. Max walked over to sit down next to his unofficial big brother. The American turtle had moved in with Kai shortly after the whole BEGA debacle. Now at sixteen he was happier than he had been in a long time partially due to the fact that he no longer had to worry about the state of his parents' marriage. The divorce had started to get ugly and Max needed a way out that Kai was more than willing to offer. After getting the support of Mr. Dickenson they had been able to convince Mr. Tate and Judy that it was the best move for everyone involved. It had taken some effort, but after Kai assured the Tates that he indeed would be benefiting from the arrangement they had agreed. Max stretched out on the porch and rested his head in Kai's lap flashing a smile as he let his eyes slide shut. 

"The guys are coming over today. Are you going to be able to stay sane being around _him_ all day?" Kai was teasing him and Max knew it, but it didn't stop the blush that crept up onto his cheeks. Kai sighed and started toying with Max's hair. "I'm not ever sure why you like him to be perfectly honest. There is such a thing as being too different for a relationship to work."

Max sighed as he tilted his back into the caress. "We're not that different. He's nice, intelligent, funny, sweet, charming, and it doesn't hurt that he's sexy as hell." With his eyes still closed he turned his face in Kai's direction and flashed one of his famous million watt smiles.

"Who's sexy as hell?" Max's eyes snapped open as he sat bolt upright and stared at the four young men standing in front of him. They were all staring at him with curious looks to their eyes.

"No one. It's nothing. You didn't hear that." He was blushing as red as a tomato and avoiding eye contact with everyone. "I'll be back in a few minutes." He jumped to his feet and ran into the house away from the prying eyes. He fled to his room and slammed the door shut trying to calm his racing heart. Collapsing on his bed the American could only hope that Kai didn't reveal the identity of his crush.

Meanwhile Kai was shaking his head at his little brother's actions. He motioned for his friends to take seats around him and they obliged. "So, who exactly was Max describing? He seems to be head over heels for whoever it is" Tala commented. Kai's eyes darted to Spencer briefly before returning to ice blue orbs. "Spencer?"

"Me? You must be on something. No way in hell Max thinks all of that of me" Spencer retorted.

Bryan tugged Kai into his lap as he considered the entire situation and then nodded. "I can see it. He has been going out of his way to spend time alone with you and he blushes every single time you send a compliment his way." Ian nodded his agreement as Kai shifted in Bryan's tight embrace.

"I'm telling you Spencer. Max has a huge crush on you. I'm not entirely sure why, but he does and not knowing if his feelings are reciprocated is eating him up inside. Do you like him?"

Spencer sighed and looked away. "Honestly, I never really allowed myself to even consider it. I didn't think that there was a remote possibility that he would like me. We're really different and even if he did like me I figured that you'd be too protective of him to actually be with me."

Kai frowned at the statement. "I am protective of him. He's gone through more than people realize and his parents' separation and divorce seriously screwed with his mental stability, but because of that I want him to be happy more than anything else. You could make him happy Spence. Besides, you're one of the few people that I would trust with him. I trust you with my life and the life of my own lover. Why wouldn't I trust you with the life of my little brother?" Sea green met scarlet as their eyes locked. "Go talk to him. See if you can't sort a few things out between you two. I'm sure things will get a lot clearer if you just _talk_."

"I suppose you have a point. You're sure you wouldn't mind if he and I were to start dating?" Spencer stood, but he hesitated as he waited for an answer from the phoenix.

"I'm positive. Now go!" Kai pointed at the door that led into the house as he tried not to laugh at the oldest Russian's behavior. Spencer left and the remaining Russians laughed before settling into a relaxed conversation.

Spencer climbed the steps and made his way down the hallway that would lead him to Max's room. He didn't know exactly what he was going to say, but he knew that he had to start out with telling Max he knew about his crush. The blond wasn't good at beating around the bush and found that things were best solved by facing the problem head on. He knocked on the closed door, but received no answer from inside. Taking a deep breath he turned the handle and pushed the door open. At first he couldn't see the younger blond, but it didn't take long to spot the large lump beneath the bed's comforter. Chuckling silently to himself he made his way over and sat down on the edge of the queen size water bed before poking the lump that immediately squirmed from the touch. "I know you're under there Max so you might as well come out. You can't be comfortable completely covered by that quilt. It's not that cold out." The lump didn't move so Spencer poked it again guessing where Max's stomach might be. The touch elicited a giggle from beneath the blankets, but the lump that was Max refused to move. Smirking devilishly he shifted and straddled the form before tickling the extremely sensitive blond beneath the covers until he was forced to pull the covers off his head to get more air. "There. That's not so bad is it? I can see you cute face now."

Max promptly turned maraschino cherry red at the compliment. "Cute? You think I have a cute face?"

"You're absolutely adorable and from my understanding you think I'm sexy so I think we're even." Max's eyes widened at the statement.

"You know?" he whimpered softly.

"Kai told me. He wants you to be happy and probably thought the best way to make that happen is tell me about your feelings."

"I only get to be happy if you feel the same way. Wait, do you feel the same way? Is that why you're up here tickling me to death?"

Spencer laughed at the question and decided that instead of telling the smaller, younger blond he would show him. He shifted on the waterbed and lowered his lips to meet Max's. Max hummed in pleasure as Spencer deepened the kiss and slid a hand behind his neck. The turtle's arms slipped out from beneath the covers and looped lazily around the whale's neck pulling him down. Spencer was forced to shift his weight so that he didn't crush the younger. They stayed in their explorative lip lock for several minutes before pulling away. "I do feel the same way about you, but I was only tickling you to get your attention. You seemed content to ignore me until I went away, but I wasn't willing to just leave. I needed to find out if you want to be with me."

Max giggled as he blushed lightly. "I didn't want to face you after you heard me describing you. That's why I ignored you. I do want to be with you Spencer. I've wanted to be with you for awhile now. I was just too afraid to speak up."

Spencer pressed a light kiss to Max's forehead and smiled softly. "Do you want to go to dinner with me tonight and get things started properly?"

Max grinned up at him ecstatic at the proposal. "I'd love to go out to dinner with you tonight." His smile faded as he bit his lip and looked away from the Russian still hovering over him.

"What's wrong Max?" Concerned that something had already gone wrong between them he tried to hide his panic.

"I'm afraid that I'll end up like my parents. I don't want to end up like them, but I know there are studies that say children of divorce are more likely to have dysfunctional and failing relationships than those that come from stable homes. I don't want that to happen."

Max was refusing to look Spencer in the eye and the latter sighed softly. He gently placed several feathery kisses along Max's neck in hope of regaining the younger blonde's attention. "It'll be okay. If we work at our relationship then we'll be able to make it. If your parents had been willing to put the necessary work into their relationship I'm sure they wouldn't be divorced. Relationships are work. If both sides aren't willing to work at keeping it happy and healthy then it's doomed to fail. I don't think we'll run into the problem."

Max finally looked back up at Spencer and smiled softly. "If you put it like that then I think we'll be okay too. I'm willing to work to make things between us work. I've waited to long to be able to call you mine to give up easily."

Spencer chuckled before pressing their lips together in another soft kiss. "I'm not giving up easily either. You're mine and you're staying that way for a long time." Max grinned and shifted on the bed. Spencer lied down next to him and wrapped his arms around the young blond. "We're young Max. We have time to work things out."

"I guess I won't give Kai crap about telling you I like you. It worked out in the end after all." Spencer chuckled and kissed Max's forehead. Max smiled and snuggled up to Spencer looking forward to dinner and not at all worried about the amount of work they would both have to put into their relationship to make it work.

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Cute, ne? I like it. It's not short either. I was worried for a little bit that it was going to be short, but it ended up being 1700+ words. Yay! Please review and let me know what you think.

Spencer: You're odd.

I am?

Max: Yes.

Oh. Okay.


End file.
